Display form



Oct. 10, 1944. w. J. DE WITT DISPLAY FORM Filed Feb. 19, 1943 Patented Oct. 10, 1944 DISPLAY FORM William J. De Witt, Auburn, N. Y., assignor to Shoe Form (30., Inc., Auburn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 19, 1943, Serial No. 476,423

11 Claims.

This invention pertains to shoe display forms, more particularly to forms of the type commonly known as shoe caps. Such devices are designed to close the top opening of a shoe so as to improve its appearance when on display in a showcase, window, or counter, or whenever exposed for examination by a prospective customer. Obviously such caps must be of light construction so as not materially to add to the weight of a shoe which may be handled by the customer. For this reason, among others, such caps as heretofore constructed, have usually been quite shallow vertically so that they do not reach down far enough to rest upon the insole of the shoe. As these caps are closed at the top and have smooth, downwardly and outwardly flaring sides, difficulty has been experienced in keeping them in place in the top of the shoe upper. One solution of this problem is found in the patents to De Witt No. 2,007,037 and 2,959,727, wherein it is suggested that such a cap may be used in association with a shoe form such as is customarily used to plump out the forepart or toe portion of a shoethe cap resting upon and being supported by various elements of the form. However, certain grades of shoes, particularly mens shoes, have Vamps and toe-boxes which are sufliciently shape-retaining to make the use of such toe or forepart forms unnecessary, and in such cases the would-be user of the shoe cap may not wish to go to the expense of providing a toe or forepart form merely as a support for the cap.

Moreover, shoe caps as heretofore designed, do not always extend into the throat of the shoe to a suiiicient distance to plump out the latter as it should be for optimum appearance, and even though the usual type of cap were made to conform in shape and dimensions to a substantial portion of the cone of a last, the failure of adequate support for the cap would make such shaping of the cap futile in so far as adequate shape retention of the throat portion of the shoe is concerned.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a shoe cap so designed as to constitute an effective and artistic closure for the top opening of a shoe and at the same time to constitute a shaping form for plumping out the throat portion of the shoe, and which is self-supporting so that when placed in the shoe it maintains its position without danger of dropping or slipping and without recourse to secondary supporting means such as a toe or forepart form or the like. A further object is to provide a cap having the above-noted advantages and which is sufficiently light in weight to be acceptable for its intended purpose; which is rigid and shaperetaining; which is durable; which has an outer surface of pleasing appearance and which may be made in substantially any desired shade or color; which provides top closure and throatsupporting surfaces of different contours for alternative use with shoes of different styles; which is easy to insert and remove from a shoe without danger of damage to the latter, and which can be made at a reasonable cost.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a mans shoe having the improved cap of the present invention installed therein;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cap removed from the shoe;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cap of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic vertical section, to small scale, showing the improved cap arranged within a shoe.

Referring to the drawing the numeral I designates a mans shoe of conventional type having an upper which includes the quarter portion 2 and the throat portion 3 and also having the heel 2 and the outer sole 2. The numeral 4 designates the improved shoe cap of the present invention, such cap being shown (Fig. 1) in place in the shoe and thus providing a closure for the top opening of the shoe whil at the same time holding the throat portion of the shoe plumped out and smooth.

The improved cap, in accordance with a preferred construction, is of reversible or duplex type, designed for use in shoes of different styles. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 the cap comprises complemental thin walled shells 5 and 6, each consisting of a unitary piece of thin resilient material, for example sheet Celluloid or a moulded plastic. The shell 5 comprises the generally horizontal surface 1, preferably inwardly concave in a longitudinal direction and which smoothly merges at its margins with the downwardly and outwardly divergent side wall 8. The forward portion 8 of this side wall is shaped to correspond more or less to the cone portion of a last and is intended to underlie a substantial part of the throat portion 3 of the shoe upper, thus to hold said throat portion smoothly plumped out in the same way as though the shoe were on a last.

The other shell 6 is of a construction generally similar to that of the shell 5, comprising the generally horizontal surface 9, somewhat concave longitudinally and which smoothly merges at its margins with the upwardly and outwardly divergent side walls Ill. The forward portion Ill (Fig. 2|) of the side wall In of this shell is contoured to correspond generally to the contour of the cone portion of a last. It may be noted that the shells 5 and 6 are of different vertical depths respectively; that the surfaces 1 and 9 are of somewhat different lengths and concave curvatures; and that the forward portions 8 and 10 of their side walls are of somewhat difierent contour.

The shells 5 and 6 are'arranged reversely in relation to each other, that is to say so that their hollow interiors are opposed to each other and the lower margin or free edge 8 of the shell 5 is flanged to overlie and snugly embrace the free upper margin m of the shell 6. Where these margins overlap they are permanently united so as to form a hollow, completely enclosed structure. For example, if the shells be of Celluloid, their overlapping margins may be made adhesive by the application of acetone or other solvent and then they may be coalesced by the application of heat and/or pressure.

Preferably, in order to impart suficient trans- Verse stiffness to this hollow structure, so that it may properly distend the quarter portion of the shoe even though the latter be quite stiff and rigid, the hollow cap is furnished with a substantially rigid reinforce web ll, preferably arranged substantially in the planeof junction of the upper and lower shells. This web may be of a piece of sheet Celluloid or the like, preferably contoured to fit within the flanged margin 8* of the upper shell and to form an abutment for the upper edge W of thelower shell. The edges of this web member H are permanently united and preferably coalesced with the margins of the shells by the employment of suitable adhesive or by the application of an appropriate solvent with heat and pressure. While this web H may be continuous and imperforate, thus dividing the interior of the cap into two completely independent chambers, it is contemplated that the web may be perforate if desired or of less area than that of the corresponding horizontal section of thecaix. thereby to reduce weight and the amount of material employed, providing sufficient transverse stiffness is assured.

By employing Celluloid or similar material in making this hollow cap it is readily possible to provide smooth finished outer surfaces without resorting to additional finishing operations, and by employing this material or similar material the color of this cap may be of any desired shade appropriate for use with the shoe for which the cap is intended.

The depth of the completed cap'is such that when one of the surfaces, for example the surface 9, rests upon the upper surface of the shoe bottom, the other substantially parallel surface I is exposed at the top opening of the shoe at the proper location to insure the desired ornamental and pleasing effect. Thus no extraneous support for the cap is necessary. As already pointed out, the upper and lower component shells 5 and 6 are of different depths respectively and of different contours so that by reversing the cap an appropriate top closure is provided for shoes of substantially different styles and size.

While it is preferred to employ a reversible cap of this type, it is within the scope of the invention so to construct the cap that only one of the surfaces 1 or 9 is designed for exposure at the top opening of the shoe, the opposite surface of the cap being left unfinished or open if desired but having lower margins designed to rest upon the shoe bottom thereby to support the top surface at the proper level.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has been shown by way of example it is to be understood that the present invention is broadly inclusive of any and all equivalent constructions falling'within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A duplex reversible shoe cap comprising two complemental hollow portions united in a substantially horizontal plane, each of said portions having finished surfaces designed for exposure at the top opening of a shoe upper, said surfaces respectively being of different contours.

2. A reversible shoe cap for use in shoes of different styles, said cap comprising complemental upper and lower parts each designed for alternative exposure at the top opening of the shoe or to rest upon the inner surface of the shoe bottom, the forward portion of the side wall of each of said parts being designed to constitute a plumping out form for the throat portion of the shoe, said forward portions of the two parts being of different contours respectively.

3. A hollow reversible shoe cap comprising two complemental parts of different vertical depths respectively, said parts being united along a substantially horizontal plane and each respectively having a surface designed for exposure at the top opening of the shoe or alternatively to rest upon the inner surface of the shoe bottom.

4. A hollow reversible shoe cap comprising two complemental parts, said parts being united in a substantially horizontal plane, reinforce means in the plane of union operative to impart transverse stiffness to the hollowcap, each of said complemental parts having a surface designed for exposure at the top opening of the shoe or alternatively to rest upon the inner surface of the shoe bottom.

5. A reversible shoe cap comprising spaced generally horizontal surfaces either of which is operative to rest upon the inner surface of a shoe bottom or alternatively to constitute a closure for the top opening of the shoe, the cap being hollow and of a depth substantially equal to that of the quarter of the shoe in which it is to be used, and an internal stiffener web disposed in a horizontal plane intermediate said horizontal surfaces.

6. A reversible shoe cap for use in shoes of different styles, said cap comprising complemental upper and lower parts each designed for alternative exposure at the top opening of the shoe or to rest upon the inner surface of the shoe bottom, each of said parts having a slightly concave surface and a side wall flaring outwardly from its junction with said surface respectively, one of said) surfaces being of greater length and less concavity than the other.

'7. A shoe cap having a base designed to rest upon the upper surface of a shoe bottom, a side wall and a top, the upper part of the side wall diverging outwardly and downwardly from the top and comprising a forward portion contoured substantially like the cone of a last and designed to underlie and to plump out the throat portion of the shoe, said upper portion of the side wall and the top being integrally joined and merging smoothly with each other, the base and side wall meeting and being joined in a plane substantially midway between the top and the shoe bottom, the cap being of thin resilient material, and a substantially horizontal stiffening web extending transversely of the cap, the edge of the web being united to the base and side wall in the plane of the junction of the latter.

8; A reversible shoe cap for use in shoes of different styles,- said cap comprising complemental upper and lower parts each designed for alternative exposure at the top opening of the shoe or to rest upon the inner surface of the shoe bottom, the two parts being of different vertical depths, and a substantially rigid horizontal reinforcing web extending across the cap substantially of the junction of said parts.

9. A shoe cap of a vertical depth such that it may rest upon the upper surface of a shoe bottom, the cap being hollow and comprising upper and lower complemental shells each consisting of a single piece of sheet material shaped to provide a longitudinally extending inwardly concave surface and a flaring side wall, the free margins of said shells overlapping and being permanently united in a substantially horizontal plane.

10. A shoe cap of a vertical depth such that it may rest upon the upper surface of a shoe bottom, the cap being hollow and comprising upper and lower parts each consisting of an integral piece of material shaped to form a generally horizontal surface and an outwardly flaring side wall, the free margins of the side walls of the two parts being permanently united, and reinforce means disposed within the cap for stiffening the latter.

11. A shoe cap of a vertical depth such that it may rest upon the upper surface of a shoe bottom, the cap being hollow and comprising upper and lower complemental shells each consisting of a unitary piece of thin resilient material shaped to provide a longitudinally concave surface and a flaring side wall which smoothly merges with said concave surface, the free margins of said shells being overlapped and permanently united, and a reinforcing web extending across the cap at the plane of union of the two shells, said web being operative to impart transverse rigidity to the cap.

WILLIAM J. DE WITT. 

